How to Find the Ideal Food and Beverage Pairing for Holiday Parties

Around the holidays, everyone is either hosting a party, attending a holiday party, or just having family gatherings, and is looking for the perfect food and beverage match to serve. Finding delicious food and wine pairings - or food and beer pairings - for holiday festivities is not difficult with a little understanding of what aspects of the drinks best complement the food.

Excellent Wine Pairings

Take advantage of the yearly Beaujolis Nouveau release on the third Thursday of the month for holiday wine pours. Beaujolis Nouveau is an easy to drink, slightly fruity red wine that is made through a fast fermentation process of just three weeks. Beaujolis Nouveau complements traditional holiday foods like turkey, grilled meats, and even pumpkin pie. Because of its light body, most drinkers will enjoy Beaujolis Nouveau and hosts will like the price which is typically around $10/bottle.

Serve Pinot Noir with dinner. This varietal gained fame after the 2004 film Sideways, and for good reason. Sophisticated wine drinkers like to say they drink Pinot Noir, but in reality it is a versatile wine for a broad audience and a delicious wine pairing for holiday meals.

Pinot Noir is a food-friendly red wine because of its low tannin levels and higher acidity that serves as a counterbalance for multiple flavors and seasonings. The wine pairs well with stuffing, turkey, herbs and spices, and even pork. However, Pinot Noir is a varietal worth spending a little more per bottle to avoid a highly grapey flavor and $20/bottle such as for Laetitia is a worthy splurge.

White wine drinkers can also find perfect wine and food pairings during the holidays with a Riesling or Gewurztraminer. Both varietals are slightly sweet, and perfectly complement typical holiday foods like turkey, ham, stuffing, and even pumpkin pie. Consumed alone these wines may taste too sweet, with food they are divine. When looking at Riesling or Gewurztraminer, look or ask for a "dry" wine, such as from the Alsace region or with the label "Trocken." Both are light with food-friendly acidity to bring out the dishes' flavors. Many excellent Riesling and Gewurztraminers are available for approximately $10/bottle.

Ideal Beer Matches

The seasonal beers are perfect pours for holiday parties as in many cases the flavors match the foods that would be served. The Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale is a delicious beer ideal for holiday party food pairings. Its spicy-sweet overtones, and hop flavors perfectly fit the cooler fall weather and its accompanying foods. Try it with roasted chicken or turkey, sweet potatoes, or even a hearty stew.

Similarly, Samuel Adams Beer is so serious about food and beer pairings, the company's Web site has an entire section devoted to it, complete with choices to sort by beer style or food. Sam Adams calls its Old Fettiwig beer "the Christmas cookie of our beer" because of its malt, caramel, and chocolate overtones. The smoky sweet flavors pair deliciously with holiday favorites like ham, scallops and bacon, and apple pie.

Old stand-by beers like Guiness and Harp also pair well with holiday meals, though at different ends of the food spectrum. As a heavy stout, Guiness tastes wonderful with pot roasts and potato dishes, while Harp better suites turkey and fish dishes. The key to successful food and beer pairings is to consider the heaviness of both the drink and the food.

In reality, the perfect food and drink pairing is whatever you prefer. While certain drinks will enhance the food flavors more than others, most important is personal preference. Whether the holiday party is in celebration of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's Eve, or any other festive event, try a new wine or beer food pairing this season.